NOH ALAM HITS SEVEN AS LIONS SLAY LAOS

After leading by three goals at the break, the Lions went on a rampage and ended up finishing the game with a sensational 11-0 victory.

Laos were simply no match for their Group B opponents as they saw Singapore’s striker Mohd Noh Alam Shah slam in seven goals past their hapless defence to put himself as the leading marksman in the tournament so far.

And Singapore now top the group with four points from two matches and a 15-goal advantage to take into their final preliminary round match against Indonesia on Wednesday. Indonesia also have four points while Vietnam are third with two points from as many draws.

Obviously the question the 6,000 odd fans were asking last night was how many goals would Singapore put past Laos. They didn’t need long to see the question answered. By the 10th min the hosts were one-up, thanks to Mohd Ridhuan Muhd and in the very next minute they were two-up, courtesy of Mohd Noh Alam who went on to score his second of the night and his team’s third in the 24th min.

A three-goal lead by the end of the first half and Laos knew it was going to be a long night.

Goal No 4 for Singapore came in the 47th min, this time it was Shahril Ishak who was the scorer and the magic feet of Mohd Noh Alam provided Singapore’s fifth goal in the 61st min. More was to come as Khairul Amri Mohd Kamal made it 6-0 in the 71st min and then Mohd Noh’s additional two goals in the 72th and 76th took the score to nine goals.

Itimi Dickson added No 10 in the 88th min before Mohd Noh Alam hit his seventh and the final goal for Singapore in injury time.

After tonight’s smashing victory, the second largest scoreline in the history of this tournament, Singapore now only require a draw against Indonesia to secure their place in the next stage. With Vietnam likely to defeat Laos in their last group encounter, Indonesia, in order to advance, will have no choice but to defeat the hosts.

The last two Group B matches will be played simultaneously at the National Stadium and Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday evening.

POST MATCH CONFERENCE QUOTES

Singapore coach, Radjoko Avramovic: “I should be happy. But we were a little lucky also because we scored two
early goals and from then on Laos were down physically and mentally. It’s always good to score goals because it gives you confidence and every member of the team feels good.

“But our performance tonight is also about teamwork. Everybody wants to help one another and that’s a good sign.”

Laos coach, Saythong Syphasay: “What can we say. We were beaten by a good team and congratulation to
Singapore. We just could not match them physically also and some poor performance from the goalkeepers did not help us.